Anti-rsv g protein antibodies

ABSTRACT

Individual monoclonal antibodies and fragments that bind a conserved epitope of the G protein of RSV and which are minimally immunogenic when administered to a human subject, are useful in treating RSV infections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional applications 61/000,469 filed 25 Oct. 2007 and 61/089,401 filed 15 Aug. 2008. The contents of these documents are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention is directed to antibodies that are immunoreactive with a functionally important epitope contained on the G protein from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that are minimally immunogenic when administered to a human subject. These antibodies may be used to increase resistance of human subjects against RSV infection as well as to diminish the level of infection in individuals already infected or to ameliorate the symptoms caused by RSV infection.

BACKGROUND ART

RSV infection has been a longstanding and pernicious problem globally, including the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan. It is particularly troublesome in premature infants, young children, and the elderly, and indeed for all individuals with a weakened immune system. It is estimated that about two thirds of children below age 1 and almost all children between age 1 and 4 are infected at least once with RSV, with most recovering without any need for medical attention. However, 5-10% have prolonged severe infection, a factor believed to be predisposing to wheezing and asthma-like symptoms later in childhood. RSV has two major surface glycoproteins, F and G. The sole marketed monoclonal antibody against RSV is only approved for prophylactic use in premature infants to prevent infection by RSV, and is directed against the F protein. This antibody, palivizumab (Synagis®, from MedImmune) is broadly useful due to conservation of the F protein sequence among strains. By contrast, the G protein is quite variable except for a central “CX3C” domain that is nearly invariant in nearly 100 sequenced strains. This region includes a motif that has been shown to interact with the fractalkine receptor. That interaction is believed to contribute to the prolonged disease course characteristic of RSV by suppressing an effective immune response to the virus: Tripp, R. A, et al., Nature Immunology (2001) 2:732-738. This region has also been shown to be an antagonist of the Toll-like Receptor 4, which is again believed to contribute to suppressing an effective immune response: Polack, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (2005) 102:8996-9001; Shingai, et al., Int'l Immunology (2008) epub July 8.

Initial attempts at prophylaxis for RSV by vaccination proved counterproductive. Enhanced disease and pulmonary eosinophilia were associated with vaccination with formalin inactivated RSV or with RSV G glycoprotein and this has been attributed to the above noted conserved sequence in the G protein designated CX3C region which mimics the chemokine fractalkine. (Haynes, L. M., et al., J. Virol. (2003) 77:9831-9844.) Passive immunization using antibodies directed to the G protein has generally been considered impractical due to the lack of conservation of the sequence of this protein among strains.

It has subsequently been confirmed by the same group that anti-G protein antibody responses engendered by RSV infection or vaccination are associated with inhibition of the binding of the G protein to the fractalkine CX3C receptor and with modulation of RSV G-protein-mediated leukocyte chemotaxis (Harcourt, J. L., et al., J. I. D. (2004) 190:1936-1940) and that inhibition of this binding adversely affects T cell responses (Harcourt, J. L., et al., J. Immunol. (2006) 176:1600-1608). More recent vaccine efforts have avoided the worsening of disease associated with the formalin fixed vaccine, but the immunity conferred by the newer vaccines has been found to wane rapidly (weeks to months), consistent with the poor immunological memory to natural RSV: Yu, et al., J. Virol. (2008) 82:2350-2357. Repeated infection is common for this virus, unlike many others. The immunosuppressive properties of the G protein may be responsible for this effect.

Monoclonal antibodies directed against the G protein have been known for over 20 years. Anderson, L. J., et al., J. Virol. (1988) 62:4232-4238 describe the ability of mixtures of F and G protein monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and of the individual mAbs, to neutralize RSV. The mAbs relevant to binding G protein, notably 131-2G, were later studied by Sullender, W., Virol. (1995) 209:70-79 in an antigenic analysis. This antibody was found to bind both RSV groups A and B, representing the major strains of RSV.

In addition, Mekseepralard, C., et al., J. Gen. Virol. (2006) 87:1267-1273 summarize earlier papers showing that passively administered antibodies both to F and G protein were protective against experimental infection in rodent models. These articles include Routledge, et al., J. Gen. Virol. (1988) 69:293-303; Stott, E. J., et al., J. Virol. (1986) 60:607-613; Taylor, G., et al., Immunol. (1994) 52:137-142; and Walsh, E. E., et al., Infect. Immun. (1984) 43:756-758. In the instant article, Mekseepralard, et al., noted that a specific monoclonal antibody raised against the G protein (1C2) required glycosylation in order to neutralize the virus in the presence of complement in vitro or when used in vivo in mice. The authors note that amino acids 173-186 of the G protein are conserved and that 1C2 was directed against a conserved region; however, the method for preparing non-immunogenic antibodies was relatively crude, namely chimerization of a murine Fab onto a human Fc region.

In addition, Corbeil, S., et al., Vaccine (1996) 14:521-525 demonstrate that the complement system is involved in the protection of mice from challenge with RSV after passive immunization with the murine monoclonal antibody 18A2B2, even though this antibody does not show neutralizing capability in vitro.

PCT publication WO 00/43040 describes the use of anti-Substance P antibodies in ameliorating the airway inflammation associated with infection by RSV. The production of Substance P, a known proinflammatory mediator, is enhanced by administration of the G protein of RSV and is absent in mutants of RSV that are missing the G protein or carry a function defeating point mutation in the central conserved region: Haynes, et al., J Virol (2003) 77:9831-9844.

U.S. patent publication 2006/0018925 describes and claims antibodies and small peptides that are able to block the interaction of CX3C region of the G protein with its receptor. These compositions are suggested as useful for modulating RSV infection and inducing immunity. Although humanization of the murine antibodies employed in the demonstration of the therapeutic and prophylactic value of these antibodies is suggested, no such humanized forms were actually produced or described.

PCT publication WO2007/101441, assigned to Symphogen, is directed to recombinant polyclonal antibodies for treatment of RSV infections. The polyclonal recombinant antibodies are composed of individual monoclonal antibodies that were isolated from human serum. Table 5 of this publication describes 12 monoclonal antibodies that are said to bind to a “conserved region” at amino acids 164-176 of the RSV G protein of subtype A. Five of these were tested for affinity to the G protein and affinities in the range of 100-500 pM were found. Two of these antibodies were tested for neutralizing ability using the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT); one showed an EC₅₀ value of approximately 2.5 μg/ml and the other failed to display neutralization characteristics at all.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Antibodies that are specifically immunoreactive with the RSV G protein as compared to the F protein, including those that are immunoreactive with strains of both groups A and B, that have high affinity for the G protein and potent neutralizing ability, have been identified from human donors confirmed as having been recently infected by RSV. In addition, a murine anti-G protein antibody, originally disclosed by Anderson, et al., J. Virol. (1988) 62:4232-4238, has been modified so as to minimize the chance of immunological rejection when administered to human subjects. The antibodies of the invention are useful as therapeutic agents and also to increase resistance to RSV in human subjects. Specifically, antibodies to the conserved motif within positions 160-176 of the G protein of subtype A are therapeutically effective in clearing the virus from subjects that are already infected and in reducing the airway inflammation characteristic of RSV infections, as well as for prophylactic use.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention is directed to monoclonal antibodies or immunoreactive fragments thereof that bind an epitope within approximately positions 160-176 on the G protein of the A strain of RSV and that are minimally immunogenic when administered to a human subject. These antibodies display neutralizing capabilities in standard plaque forming assays for neutralization of RSV and demonstrate EC₅₀ in such assays of <500 ng/ml, preferably <200 ng/ml, more preferably <100 ng/ml. The antibodies of the invention also have affinities for the G protein of RSV-A2 of <1 nM, preferably <500 pM, more preferably <100 pM. The antibodies of the invention, in one embodiment, bind within 30 residues of, or directly to, at least a portion of the CX3C chemokine motif contained in the G protein of RSV, in a region that has a high degree of amino acid identity across multiple strains of RSV. The CX3C chemokine motif is at approximately amino acid positions 182-186 of strain RSV-A2 and at the corresponding positions of the G protein in other strains. It has been found that the relevant region, within which the antibodies of the invention bind, is included within residues 160-176 of the G protein of RSV-A2 and the corresponding positions of the G protein in other strains. This region is highly conserved within the A strain and contains only a few amino acid differences between the A and B strains. A particularly highly conserved region has the sequence HFEVFNFVPCSIC at positions 164-176 of RSV A2. Preferably, the antibodies of the invention bind an epitope that includes the sequence FEVFNF or the sequence VFNFVPCSIC. In one embodiment, the antibodies of the invention are immunoreactive with this region of conserved amino acid identity and, thus, with G protein of both group A and group B strains of this virus, and therefore with the G-protein of most strains.

For use in the methods of the invention to treat RSV infection or to enhance resistance to RSV, the monoclonal antibodies or fragments of the invention may be immunoreactive with a multiplicity of strains in both groups A and B and a single monoclonal antibody may suffice to have the desired effect. Alternatively, the subject to be treated or to be made resistant may be administered more than a single monoclonal antibody, in particular where one antibody in the protocol is more highly reactive with the strains of group A and the other more highly reactive with the strains of group B.

The invention also includes pharmaceutical compositions useful for prophylaxis or treatment including ameliorating inflammation which contain as an active agent a single antibody or immunoreactive fragment of the invention, or no more than two antibodies or fragments of the invention.

Other aspects of the invention include methods of using the antibodies to treat RSV in human subjects or to induce resistance in these subjects.

The monoclonal antibodies of the invention may be produced recombinantly and therefore the invention also includes recombinant materials for such production as well as cell lines or immortalized cells and non-human multicellular organisms or cells thereof, or microbial cells, for the production of these antibodies. In one embodiment, cells obtained from human subjects are produced in “immortalized” form wherein they have been modified to permit secretion of the antibodies for a sufficient time period that they may be characterized and the relevant encoding sequence cloned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plot showing the frequency in ppm of antibodies to various RSV antigens from human subjects. The desired strain-independent anti-G phenotype (Gab) is quite rare, around 10 parts per million (ppm) overall and as low as 1 ppm in certain subjects. “Mix” refers to antibodies binding both F and G; as F and G have no sequence homology, the binding is likely attributable to shared carbohydrate determinants.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of the RSV G protein indicating the CX3C region and the location of conserved disulfide bonds. The diagrammatic version is generic to all strains, although the specific numbering of positions is slightly different from one strain to the next.

FIG. 2B plots serum binding from RSV exposed subjects against a panel of overlapping 12-mer peptides from RSV G protein, revealing poor immunogenicity of the central conserved region.

FIG. 2C plots polymorphism frequency for a collection of over 75 RSV strains as a function of position in the G protein, revealing striking conservation at the central conserved region and at the alternative splice site that creates a soluble form of the G protein.

FIG. 3 shows the results of probing an illustrative murine monoclonal antibody (131-2G) against an array of peptides with overlapping sequences. This work identifies the epitope to which the mAb binds. In the instance illustrated, the epitope is within 30 residues of the CX3C motif.

FIGS. 4A-4D: Panels A and B present summary plots of blood from two donors. Panel A shows a donor that has a useful frequency of Ga/Gb cross-reactive clones. Panel B shows a donor that does not. Each point in the plot delineates the relative binding to three probes for a single clone's secreted antibody footprint. Panel C is the quantitative profile of the secreted protein footprint of a single EBV transformed B cell. Panel D shows the profiles of 4 progeny cells from a HEK293 cell transformed with antibody genes from the cell in panel C. This profile is identical to that in panel C, within the precision of the assay as defined by replicates in panel D.

FIGS. 5A-5B show the sequences of heavy chains (panel A) and light chains (panel B) for representative antibodies of the invention.

FIGS. 6A-6F show Biacore results on determinations of affinity of two antibodies of the invention. As shown in panels E and F, antibody 3D3 binds the G protein and does not shows a barely detectable off rate. Panels A and D show binding of the antibody to the sensor surface. Panels B and E show the increase in sensor signal as Ga protein flows across the surface and is captured by the bound antibody, followed by a decline in signal as the surface is washed with buffer allowing the bound Ga protein to desorb from the surface. Panels C and F similarly show on-rates and off-rates for the Gb protein.

FIG. 7 is a graph of the binding of various antibodies of the invention as compared to the Synagis® F protein-binding antibody as determined in an ELISA assay using live virus to coat the microplate.

FIG. 8 is a graph plotting affinity to G protein on the X-axis against binding to virus on the Y-axis. The two abilities are correlated, although 3D3 shows slightly less affinity to live virus than would be predicted from its affinity to G protein.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a comparison of binding of several antibodies to strains A2 and A5.

FIG. 10 shows the results of neutralization assays. The results are shown in terms of number of plaques plotted against μg of antibody.

FIG. 11 shows a comparison of antibody 3G12 of the invention with Synagis® in neutralizing RSV strain B.

FIG. 12 shows a comparison of the prophylactic activity of two invention antibodies with Synagis® commercial antibody.

FIGS. 13A-13C show therapeutic efficacy of mAb 131-2G in a post-infection murine model of RSV (treatment at day +3 post-infection), including dose dependent reduction in viral load (panel A) along with other measures of reduced lung inflammation: NK cells and PMN cells (panel B) and interferon-gamma (IFNγ) (panel C).

FIG. 14 shows the time course of viral titer in a mouse model treated with 3G12, 3D3 or Synagis® antibodies at a low dose that highlights the potency advantage of the high affinity antibodies of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a dose/response curve measuring the effect of antibodies on RSV copy number in the lungs of RSV-infected mice when treated at day +3 after infection.

FIG. 16 shows comparative ability of Synagis®, 3D3 and 3G12 to reduce viral load at the end stages of infection, after treatment at day +3 after infection.

FIG. 17 shows the effect of control antibody, anti-F antibody and anti-G antibody on BAL cells in the lungs of RSV-infected mice. Treatment was at day +3 post-infection.

FIGS. 18A and 18B show that F(ab′)₂ immunospecific fragments of anti-G mAb are as effective as the intact mAbs in reducing inflammation in RSV-infected mice when given at day +3 post-infection, but are not effective in reducing viral load.

FIGS. 19A-19C show the effect of anti-G mAbs on the production of IFNγ in BAL at various times of administration of the antibody, ranging from prophylactic (day −1) to day +3 and day +5 post-infection.

FIG. 20 shows antibody titer to the central conserved region of RSV G protein from elderly patients infected with RSV. The patients were selected according to severity of clinical signs and symptoms, severe or mild. The absence of appreciable titer to the central conserved region is correlated with severe disease.

MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As used herein, the term “treat” refers to reducing the viral burden in a subject that is already infected with RSV or to ameliorating the symptoms of the disease in such a subject. Such symptoms include bronchiolitis, airway inflammation, congestion in the lungs, and difficulty breathing.

The term “confers resistance to” refers to a prophylactic effect wherein viral infection by RSV upon challenge is at least reduced in severity.

“Immortalized cells” refers to cells that can survive significantly more passages than unmodified primary isolated cells. As used in the context of the present invention, “immortalized” does not necessarily mean that the cells continue to secrete antibodies over very long periods of time, only that they can survive longer than primary cell cultures. The time over which secretion of antibody occurs need only be sufficient for its identification and recovery of the encoding nucleotide sequence.

The phrase “minimally immunogenic when administered to human subjects” means that the response to administration in humans is similar to that obtained when human or humanized antibodies are administered to such humans. It is known that human or humanized antibodies do elicit a response in 5-10% of humans treated. This is true even of antibodies that are isolated from humans since there is a certain level of background “noise” in an immune response elicited. The immune response may be humoral or cellular or both. In particular, elevated levels of cytokines may be found in this percentage of individuals.

The phrase “conserved region of the RSV G protein” refers to an amino acid sequence contained within 50 amino acids, preferably 30 amino acids, more preferably 20 amino acids on either side of the CX3C region, which is illustrated for a particular strain in FIG. 2A. The conserved region extends mostly at the upstream portion of the G protein from the CX3C-specific region. Thus, using RSV G protein of strain A2 as a model, the conserved region applicable to the antibodies of the invention extends from approximately residue 160 through 188, preferably 160-176.

The antibodies of the invention have a number of desirable properties. First, they are immunoreactive with G protein from a multiplicity of RSV strains, and are typically immunoreactive with G proteins both from A type strains and B type strains. Second, they have quite high affinities for the G protein, some of them in the range of <2 pM. Thus, the antibodies of the invention have affinities of at least 10 nM, preferably 1 nM, more preferably 500 pM, more preferably 100 pM or 50 pM, 10 pM or 1 pM and all values between these preferred exemplary points. Synagis®, a commercial antibody directed to the F protein, is established to have an affinity of about 5 nM. A higher affinity antibody against F protein, Numax™ (motavizumab) is estimated to have an affinity of about 50 pM. The antibodies of the invention show superior ability to behave as therapeutics, and exhibit the capacity to lower the viral count in lungs at the peak of infection. They also exhibit this ability at a point where typically the infection has run its course. This is particularly useful as subjects recovering from RSV infection may continue to shed virus, and thus be able to infect others in a post-clinical setting. The antibodies and fragments thereof also treat the symptoms of infection, including inflammation in the lungs.

The antibodies of the invention have been obtained in two exemplary ways. In one approach, an existing monoclonal antibody referenced above, 131-2G, that is known to be immunoreactive with the conserved region of the G protein, was first sequenced and then humanized by fusing a human constant region with modified human variable regions (both heavy and light chains). The variable regions were chosen based on high homology to the variable regions from the 131-2G antibody, then modified to incorporate the hypervariable amino acids from 131-2G. The methods for such humanization are generally known provided the correct selection of amino acid replacements can be determined. In the case of 131-2G, the original hybridoma line expressed more than one light chain, requiring determination of which one was in fact responsible for binding to the RSV conserved motif. This has been determined by the present inventors and, in one embodiment, the antibodies of the invention are exemplified by the humanized form of mAb 131-2G.

In an alternative method, the antibodies of the invention have been recovered from RSV exposed human donors using the proprietary CellSpot™ method which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,413,868, PCT publications WO 2005/045396 and WO 2008/008858, all incorporated by reference.

In this method, 40 RSV-infected donor samples were analyzed, in a process yielding ˜500,000 antibody-producing cells per blood sample. Thus, in total, there were ˜20,000,000 different B cells analyzed for production of antibodies which are specific to the conserved region of the G protein. Only ˜10% of the donors had a useful frequency of Ga/Gb specific clones (i.e., strain independent), and such clones were only present at ˜1/50,000 cells even in the highest frequency specimens. Overall, the frequency of the desired cells was ˜0.003%, which is low enough to be impractical to recover by standard methods but readily accessible using CellSpot™. FIG. 1 shows the spectrum of reactivities to RSV antigens for 24 donors. As shown in this figure, even in those individuals where antibodies crossreacting with both A and B strain-derived G protein were found, the prevalence of these antibodies is much smaller than that of antibodies immunoreactive with F protein or with Ga or Gb alone. A surprisingly large number of clones recognized both the F and G protein (denoted “mix”), which are likely recognizing shared carbohydrate determinants. Affinities of such anti-carbohydrate antibodies are typically poor and were excluded from further consideration. The highest affinity antibody found within this cohort of donors, with an affinity of 1 pM, came from one of the donors with a very low frequency of Ga/Gb specific clones, ˜1 ppm. That is, finding this highly favorable clone would have been unlikely without comprehensive screening of the full repertoire from all donors.

In order to perform this screen, B cells were immortalized with Epstein-Barr Virus and assessed according to the above-described methods (see Example 2 for details). Successful B cells were identified and the nucleotide sequences encoding the identified monoclonal antibodies were obtained and sequenced. These were then manipulated recombinantly to produce antibodies in a mammalian cell line.

An important aspect of the G protein function resides in a secreted form of the protein, s(G), created by an alternative splice site near residue 50. Engineering virus to lack s(G) resulted in reduced level of pulmonary infiltrating cells (Maher, et al., Microbes Infect. (2004) 6:1049-1055). Conversely, priming mice with s(G) augments IL-5 production and lung eosinophilia (Johnson, et al., J Virol (1998) 72:2871-2880). Accordingly, suppressing the activity of s(G) is important for effective treatment of RSV. Achieving that goal requires a high affinity antibody, as is generally known in the art (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,950). Since the central conserved region is specifically implicated in the function of s(G) as an immuno-modulatory agent, an effective antibody against s(G) should target this motif.

Our survey of the human B cell repertoire from RSV exposed subjects was unbiased in its search for antibodies that bind to the G protein from both strains A and B (Ga/Gb cross-reactive antibodies). Because the survey was comprehensive (40 subjects, ˜500,000 B cells examined from each), it is a striking finding that all of the Ga/Gb cross-reactive antibodies binding linear epitopes suitable for mapping recognize epitopes within a few residues of each other, within the central conserved region. This region is known to be poorly immunogenic, as summarized in FIG. 2B (Plotnicky-Gilquin, et al., Virology (2002) 303:130-137), consistent with the low frequency of high affinity clones to this region reported here. We have further characterized this region by examining the published sequences of G proteins from >75 RSV isolates. Most residues of the protein show several to many polymorphisms in the collection. Two regions are strikingly free of polymorphisms: the alternative splice site that creates s(G) and the central conserved region to which all Ga/Gb cross-reactive antibodies bind (FIG. 2C). That is, we have discovered that a region which is highly conserved, indicating critical functionality, is also poorly immunogenic. A variety of mechanisms may account for that poor immunogenicity, for example absence of nearby proteolytic cleavage sites suitable for effectively presenting the region in combination with histocompatibility antigens for display to the rest of the immune system. Whatever the mechanism, this surprising result is clear: those viruses that have survived show low immunogenicity to this region. We therefore predicted that augmenting the immune system's activity against this region, by passive transfer of suitable antibodies, would be efficacious, and this has proven to be the case in our animal models. The alternative splice site, although equally conserved, is not unusually low in immunogenicity suggesting that its importance is only with regard to creation of s(G), thus making it a poor target for passive immunotherapy.

Production of the human or humanized antibody of the invention is accomplished by conventional recombinant techniques, such as production in Chinese hamster ovary cells or other eukaryotic cell lines, such as insect cells. Alternatively, techniques are also known for producing recombinant materials, including antibodies, in plants and in transgenic animals, for example in the milk of bovines, or in microbial or plant or insect derived single cell systems.

In addition, since the nucleotide sequences encoding the antibodies are available, the relevant fragments which bind the same epitope, e.g., Fab, F(ab′)₂ or Fv fragments, may be produced recombinantly (or by proteolytic treatment of the protein itself) and the antibody may be produced in single-chain form. A variety of techniques for manipulation of recombinant antibody production is known in the art.

For use in therapy, the recombinantly produced antibodies or fragments are formulated into pharmaceutical compositions using suitable excipients and administered according to standard protocols. The pharmaceutical compositions may have as their sole active ingredient a monoclonal antibody or fragment of the invention, especially a monoclonal antibody or fragment that is crossreactive with G protein of both A and B strains. Alternatively, two monoclonal antibodies may be the sole active ingredients wherein one more strongly reacts with the A strain G protein and the other more strongly with the B strain G protein. In all of these cases, additional therapeutic agents may be present, including one or more antibodies that is immunoreactive with the F protein or other therapeutic agents that are effective against RSV or inflammation. Thus, anti-inflammatories such as both steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compounds may be included in the compositions. Also, the compounds may include nutritional substances such as vitamins, or any other beneficial compound other than an antibody.

In one embodiment, when the formulations for administration are used in order to increase resistance to infection, complete antibodies, including the complement-containing Fc region are employed. Typically, the antibodies are administered as dosage levels of 0.01-20 mg/kg of human subjects or in amounts in the range of 0.01-5 mg/kg or intermediate amounts within these ranges. In one embodiment, amounts in the range of 0.1-1.0 mg/kg are employed. Repeated administration separated by several days or several weeks or several months may be beneficial. Boosters may also be offered after one or two or five or ten years.

In another embodiment, for a therapeutic effect in order to reduce viral load, complete antibodies, containing the complement-containing Fc region are also employed. The amounts administered in such protocols are of the order of 0.001-50 mg/kg or intermediate values in this range such as 0.01, 1 or 10 mg/kg are employed. Repeated administration may also be used. The therapeutic treatment is administered as soon as possible after diagnosis of infection, although administration within a few days is also within the scope of the invention. Repeated administration may also be employed. In order to reduce the inflammatory response in the lungs, only the immunospecific fragments of the antibodies need be employed. Dosage levels are similar to those for whole antibodies. Administration of mixtures of immunospecific fragments and entire antibodies is also included within the scope of the invention.

Administration of the antibody compositions of the invention is typically by injection, generally intravenous injection. Thus, parenteral administration is preferred. However, any workable mode of administration is included.

The formulations are prepared in ways generally known in the art for administering antibody compositions. Suitable formulations may be found in standard formularies, such as Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, latest edition, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa., incorporated herein by reference. The formulations are typically those suitable for parenteral administration including isotonic solutions, which include buffers, antioxidants and the like, as well as emulsions that include delivery vehicles such as liposomes, micelles and nanoparticles.

The desired protocols and formulations are dependent on the judgment of the attending practitioner as well as the specific condition of the subject. Dosage levels will depend on the age, general health and severity of infection, if appropriate, of the subject.

The following examples are offered to illustrate but not to limit the invention.

EXAMPLE 1 Cloning and Humanization of 131-2G

Cloning and sequencing of mAb 131-2G. Total mRNA was extracted from 131-2G hybridoma according to the manufacturer's directions (RNeasy™ kit: Qiagen Santa Clarita, Calif.). Seven family-specific 5′ VγFR1 primers designed to target the VH1 through VH7 gene families of Igγ, and one consensus 3′ Cγ1 primer were used to amplify and sequence the variable region of 131-2G heavy chain. One consensus 5′ Vk primer was designed to amplify each of the Vk families, and one reverse primer specific to the kappa constant region were used to amplify and sequence the kappa light chain. The VH and VL transcripts were amplified from 100 ng total RNA using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Two PCR reactions were run for the 131-2G hybridoma: one for light chain kappa (κ) and one for gamma heavy chain (γ1). The QIAGEN® OneStep RT-PCR kit was used for amplification, (Qiagen Catalog No. 210212). The extracted PCR products were directly sequenced using specific constant region primers. The derived sequences were compared to known germline DNA sequences of the Ig V- and J-regions using the V-BASE2 and by alignment of VH and VL genes to the mouse germ line database. Sequence analysis: from the nucleotide sequence information, data regarding V and J gene segment of the heavy and light chain of 131-2G were obtained. Based on the sequence data new primer sets specific to the leader sequence of the Ig VH and VK chain of 131-2G were designed. V gene usage and sequence analysis: Heavy chain genes of 13-12G were from the VH1 germline gene family, the germline gene for the D region is DSP2.2 and the J region was from the JH3 germline. Light chain genes were from Vkappa 1 (K ₁ A ₅) and Jkappa4, germline gene families.

131-2G uses a V segment of the IgH-VJ558 VH1 family:  M  G  W  S   W  I  F   L  F  L   L  S  G  T   A  G  V   H  S  E 1 ATGGGATGGA GCTGGATCTT TCTCTTCCTC CTGTCAGGAA CTGCAGGTGT CCACTCTGAG  V  Q  L  Q   Q  S  G   P  E  L   V  K  P  G   T  S  V   K  I  S 61 GTCCAGCTGC AACAGTCTGG ACCTGAACTG GTGAAGCCTG GAACTTCAGT GAAGATATCC  C  K  A  S   G  Y  S   F  T  G   F  T  M  N   W  V  K   Q  S  H 121 TGCAAGGCTT CTGGTTATTC ATTCACTGGC TTCACCATGA ACTGGGTGAA GCAGAGCCAT G  K  N  L   E  W  F   G  L  I   N  P  F  N   G  N  T   G  Y  N 181 GGAAAGAACC TTGAGTGGTT TGGACTTATT AATCCTTTCA ATGGTAATAC TGGCTACAAC  Q  K  F  K   G  K  A   T  L  T   V  D  K  S   S  S  T   A  F  M 241 CAGAAGTTCA AGGGCAAGGC CACATTAACT GTAGACAAGT CTTCCAGCAC AGCCTTCATG  E  L  L  S   L  T  S   E  D  S   A  V  Y  Y   C  A  R   S  G  K 301 GAGCTCCTCA GTCTGACATC TGAGGACTCT GCAGTCTATT ACTGTGCAAG ATCGGGAAAA  S  Y  D  Y   E  A  W   F  T  Y   W  G  Q  G   T  L  V   T  V  S 361 TCCTATGATT ACGAGGCCTG GTTTACTTAC TGGGGCCAAG GGACTCTGGT CACTGTCTCT  A 421 GCA 131-2G uses a V segment of the IκV1 subgroup:  D  I  V  M   T  Q  T   T  L  S   L  P  V  S   L  G  N   Q  A  S 1 GATATTGTGA TGACACAAAC TACACTCTCC CTGCCTGTCA GTCTTGGAAA TCAAGCCTCC  I  S  C  R   S  S  Q   T  I  V   H  T  N  G   N  T  Y   L  E  W 61 ATCTCTTGCA GATCTAGTCA GACCATTGTA CATACTAATG GAAACACCTA TTTAGAATGG  Y  L  Q  K   P  G  Q   S  P  K   L  L  I  Y   K  V  S   N  R  F 121 TACCTGCAGA AACCAGGCCA GTCTCCAAAG CTCCTGATTT ACAAAGTTTC CAACCGATTT  S  G  V  P   D  R  F   S  G  S   G  S  G  T   D  F  I   L  N  I 181 TCTGGGGTCC CAGACAGGTT CAGTGGCAGT GGATCAGGGA CAGATTTCAT ACTCAATATC  S  R  V  E   A  E  D   L  G  V   Y  Y  C  F   Q  G  S   H  V  P 241 AGCAGAGTGG AGGCTGAGGA TCTGGGAGTT TATTACTGCT TTCAAGGTTC ACATGTTCCA  F  T  F  G   S  G  T   K  L  E   I  K  R 301 TTCACGTTCG GCTCGGGGAC AAAGTTGGAA ATAAAACGGA

Humanization of mAb 131-2G. The binding of an Antibody (Ab) to its cognate Antigen (Ag) is a highly specific interaction. This specificity resides in the structural complementarity between the Ab-combining site and the antigenic determinant. Ab-combining sites are made up of residues that are primarily from the hypervariable or complementarity determining regions (CDRs); occasionally, residues from non-hypervariable (or framework) regions influence the overall domain structure and, hence, the combining site.

The mouse VH gene segment repertoire is twice the size of that in humans and contains more functional genes, compared with the human IgH locus. The mouse and the human loci bear no large-scale similarity to each other. The first two CDRs of VH and VL domains have a small repertoire structure of main chain conformation known as the canonical structures. The existence of a particular canonical structure is mainly determined by the length of the CDRs and the presence of key residues at particular sites in the sequence. The same canonical structure combinations of VH1 family (VH1 1-2) are shared between the members of human VH1 and mouse VH1 families. Based on the sequence analysis of heavy and light chains of 131-2G and the fact that 131-2G uses V segments of IgH-VJ558 VH1 family and Igκ1 family, both chains were aligned and compared to the members of the human VH1 and VK1 families. Sequence homology was found to be 70% and 77% identity to the germ line sequence of Human VH1-8 and Vk1-18 respectively. These germ lines were picked as the human framework for the humanized 131-2G mAb.

Epitope mapping of mAb 1312G. Western Blot analysis using RSV lysate and purified Ga protein suggested that 131-2G recognizes a linear epitope. The binding domain of 131-2G was mapped using a set of overlapping peptides derived from the RSV-GA2 protein sequence. FIG. 2A diagrams the G protein sequence, including location of the conserved CX3C motif. In order to obtain a fine epitope mapping, a scan was performed on a family of 12-mer Ga derived peptides, each shifted by one residue. An array of such peptides was probed with 131-2G mAb, at 1 μg/ml. Binding of 131-2G was detected by goat anti mouse peroxidase-labeled antibody in combination with the super signal chemiluminescence detection system (Pierce, Rockford Ill., USA). As summarized in FIG. 3, the 131-2G antibody reacts with 8 consecutive peptides spanning the RSV-Ga protein from residue 157 to 176. The epitope recognized by 131-2G is within the peptide sequences (157) SKPNNDFHFEVF (169) and (169) HFEVFNFVPCSI (176). Based on the common sequence from the 8 peptides, the 131-2G binding domain was mapped to residues 164-168.

Three methods were used to characterize the affinity of 131-2G and analogous human mAbs. First, binding signal was measured for a fixed amount of antibody probed against serial dilutions of antigen in an ELISA format. The midpoint of this titration curve is an approximation of the affinity. In the case of 131-2G, that midpoint is 4 nM. Second, the affinity of 131-2G was measured by Biacore analysis at a commercial analytical laboratory; based on the ratio of on-rate to off-rate, the affinity was calculated as 7 nM. Third, dilution of the Ga protein on CellSpot™ beads with serum albumin reduces the opportunity for multiple copies of the protein to interact with the antibody footprint. The resulting suppression of multi-dentate avidity effects from the raw signal allows rank ordering of a set of clones for affinity, relative to a known standard. This measure of affinity can be used to compare the human antibodies to 131-2G and efficiently select for high affinity clones. All of these methods are improved by availability of a consistent source of G protein antigen. In our early studies, antigen was extracted from virus infected cells. Due to variability in the quality of antigen prepared this way, we developed a recombinant expression system for producing the G protein, which proved to be more reliable.

EXAMPLE 2 Isolation of Human B Cells Secreting Antibody to RSV-Ga/Gb

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 40 adults with confirmed RSV infection were surveyed for human B cells producing anti-viral antibodies. Subjects with the desired antibodies against RSV attachment G protein were used for cloning of anti RSV-G specific mAbs. The result of the survey was that ˜10% of the subjects had a frequency of the desired cells greater than 1 in 100,000. Even those with a lower frequency, however, were of interest and in fact the highest affinity antibody identified came from a donor with a very low frequency of the desired B cell type, ˜1 ppm.

To accomplish the survey and recovery of rare favorable cells, we used the previously described CellSpot™ technology. The CellSpot™ assay method effectively shrinks an ELISA equivalent assay down to a virtual well of near single cell dimensions by capturing secreted IgG from a single cell as a footprint in the vicinity of the cell. As a result, millions of cells can be readily analyzed. Further, by use of microscopic multiplexing reagents (combinatorially colored fluorescent latex microspheres, cf U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,062), each clone's secreted antibody footprint can be characterized in detail for specificity and/or affinity using multiple biochemical probes. The fidelity of the quantitative assay is sufficient to enable rescue of extremely rare favorable cells from the survey population, with the cloned expression cell showing a phenotype consistent with the original identifying assay.

The screening criteria were: binding to G protein from both of the two major strain families, denoted Ga and Gb, and not binding to the F protein (the other major viral coat protein). Affinity rank ordering of clones can also be accomplished by diluting the antigen on the bead with serum albumin. This reduces the chances for multi-dentate binding to the secreted IgG footprint (an “avidity” effect), thus selecting for higher intrinsic affinity. G protein was purified from Vero cells infected with one or the other of the two RSV strains.

Applied to human B cells, the method begins by depleting non-B cells from PBMCs using standard magnetic separation methods. Cells were resuspended in IMDM/20% HI-FCS at 1e6/ml; EBV (direct pelleted from the supernatant of infected B95-8 cells) was added at 1:100 dilution, and the cells incubated 2 hr at 37° C. Excess virus was washed away, and cells either: cultured at 2e6/ml in IMDM, 20% HI-FCS, 20% Giant cell tumor conditioned medium, 2 μg/ml CpG (ODN2006), and 10 ng/ml IL-10 for surveying only, or further selected for surface IgG using magnetic positive selection. Cells were cultured at 200-300 cells/well on irradiated human lung cells (MRC-5, 5,000 cells/well) in IMDM, 20% HI-FCS, 20% Giant cell tumor conditioned medium, 2 μg/ml CpG (ODN2006), and 10 ng/ml IL-10. Medium was supplemented every 2-3 days. One half of the contents of the wells were assayed in CellSpot™ at day 6. The remaining cells in the small number of wells positive by the survey assay were then diluted to 10, 5, 1, and 0.5 cells/well with the same feeder cells and culture conditions. After 4-5 days these limiting dilution plates were again assayed by ELISA or CellSpot™.

Contents of positive wells at limiting dilution were then processed using Reverse Transcriptase-PCR to recover the encoding polynucleotide for the antibody heavy and light chains. Total time from thawing PBMCs to recovery of the encoding mRNA sequence via RT-PCR was 10-12 days.

FIG. 4 shows illustrative data from this experiment. Examples of CellSpot™ profiling of favorable and unfavorable donor blood samples is illustrated in panels A and B. The profile of a favorable clone at initial detection is shown in panel C, along with replicate profiles in panel D of antibody secreted from progeny of a HEK293 cell transformed with cDNA cloned antibody derived from that cell. The profiles are identical within the precision of the assay, indicating successful recovery of the favorable clone.

As was shown in FIG. 1, the majority of anti-RSV antibodies are directed to the F protein or to an antigenic determinant shared by F and G (most likely carbohydrate since the two proteins have no sequence homology). Of the G specific antibodies, most bind only Ga or only Gb, consistent with the known high sequence variability of the G protein. Overall, ˜20 million individual B cells were surveyed. The 12 most promising antibodies were recovered by RT-PCR. Overall, then, the frequency of favorable clones is below 1 in 1 million, and over 50 million ELISA equivalent assays were needed to find those rare clones. The CellSpot™ technology thus enabled a more comprehensive survey of clones than would otherwise be practical. The quality of the resulting clones is superior to those found by more limiting screening, and the consensus features of that high quality set reveal unanticipated features of the desired antibodies.

EXAMPLE 3 Cloning of Human Antibodies to RSV-Ga/Gb

Amplification of rearranged Ig Heavy and Ig Light genes from positive ELISA wells was accomplished using semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). For amplification of a priori unknown V-gene rearrangements, a collection of family-specific V-gene primers was constructed, which recognize nearly all V-gene segments in the human Ig Locus. The 5′ primers were used together with primer mixes specific for the Cγ, Cκ and Cλ gene segments. The clonality of the limiting dilution RSV-G specific B cells was unequivocally determined by sequence comparison of V-gene amplificates from distinct progeny cells, and the amplified full length V-gene rearrangements were cloned into IgG expression vectors. This method was also useful to address additional issues, such as V-, D-, and J-gene usage and the presence and pattern of somatic mutations.

Methods. Total mRNA from the isolated human B cells was extracted using a commercially available RNA purification kit (RNeasy™; Qiagen (Germany)). Reverse transcription-PCR was done by using total RNA preparations and oligonucleotides as primers. Three PCR reactions were run for each sample: one for light chain kappa (κ) one for light chain lambda (λ), and one for gamma heavy chain (γ). The QIAGEN® OneStep RT-PCR kit was used for amplification, (Qiagen Catalog No. 210212). In the coupled RT-PCR reactions, cDNA is synthesized with unique blend of RT enzymes (Omniscript™ and Sensiscript™) using antisense sequence specific primer corresponded to C-κ, C-λ or to a consensus of the CHI regions of Cγ genes, RT is preformed at 50° C. for 1 hour followed by PCR amplification of the cDNA by HotStarTaq DNA Polymerase for high specificity and sensitivity. Each PCR reaction used a mixture of 5′ sense primers. Primer sequences were based on leader sequences of VH, VK and VL. PCR reactions were run at 95° C. for 15 minutes, initial hot start followed by 20 cycles of 95° C. for 30 seconds (denaturation), 60° C. for 45 seconds (annealing) and 72° C. for 1 minute (elongation).

Nested PCR for detection and cloning of the variable Igfragments into expression vectors. In the second round, an aliquot of 5 μl of the first amplification reaction was applied. The primers used carry the 5′BglII and 3′ XbaI restriction sites. Thirty PCR cycles were performed. Identical conditions were used for the first and second rounds of amplification. Five microliters of each reaction were loaded and separated on a 1% agarose gel and then stained with ethidium bromide. The V-C PCR product is predicted to amplify rearranged fragments of VH and VL, 500 and 450 bp respectively. PCR bands with a molecular size of approximately 500 bp indicated a positive result. PCR products were purified (Qiagen gel purification kit catalog number 28704) and the extracted PCR products were directly sequenced using specific constant region primers. The sequences of the cloned fragments were confirmed by sequencing plasmids prepared for recombinant production.

FIG. 5A shows the amino acid sequences of the heavy chains of the antibodies of the invention isolated from human subjects as well as of humanized 131-2G, including variable region, the D and J joining regions, the framework (FR) and complementarity determining (CDR) regions. All of the listed antibodies are immunoreactive with the G protein from both the A and B strains except for antibody 3F9, which is immunoreactive only with G protein from strain A. FIG. 5B shows similar sequence information for the light chains of these antibodies. Dashes in the sequence listings represent alignment corrections in the gene sequences of different lengths.

The PCR fragments described above were digested and cloned into individual expression vectors carrying the constant region of human gamma 1, or of human kappa or lambda, for in vitro antibody production in mammalian cells. The expression vectors coding for heavy and light chains were co-transfected into the 293 (human kidney) cell line (Invitrogen). The expression plasmids were introduced with the use of a cationic lipid-based transfection reagent (293Fectin™; Invitrogen). For each transfection reaction, 20 μg of purified plasmids and 40 μL of the 293Fectin™ were mixed with 1 mL of Opti-MEM® (Invitrogen) and incubated for 5 min at room temperature before being combined and allowed to form complexes for 20 min at room temperature. The DNA-293fectin complexes were added to 3×10⁶ cells seeded in 90 mm petri plates and incubated at 37° C., 8% CO2. In the final procedure, the supernatant was harvested 72 hrs post-transfection by centrifugation (3,000 g, 15 min at 4° C.), to recover the secreted antibodies.

EXAMPLE 4 Epitope Mapping of the Invention Antibodies and Affinity Determination

Using the technique described in Example 1 with respect to epitope mapping of the prior art antibody 131-2G, the epitopes corresponding to the antibodies of the invention were determined. The affinity of the invention antibodies was determined using the methods described in Example 1 with respect to mAb 131-2G.

As noted in Table 1 below, three of the antibodies bind a conformational epitope—i.e., they do not map by binding overlapping peptides. Antibodies of the invention which map to specific sequences are shown in the table. Also shown are the affinity constants, determined using standard Biacore assays with respect to recombinant Ga and Gb proteins expressed as pM, calculated from the measured on and off rates. The data for two of these antibodies is shown in FIG. 6. Panels A, B and C show binding data for 3G12 and panels D, E and F show the data from 3D3. The top row shows loading of the biosensor chip with antibody, the middle row shows the signal arising from flowing Ga protein across the chip followed by washing with buffer, and the bottom row shows the same thing for Gb protein. The increase in signal allows calculation of the on-rate, while the decrease during washing allows calculation of the off-rate. The ratio of on to off rates is the affinity constant, Kd.

TABLE 1 KD × Ga KD × Gb Bin reactivity Epitope Epitope (pM) (pM) 1F12 Ga/Gb 166-172 EVFNFVP 3G12 Ga/Gb 167-176 VFNFVPCSIC 579 173 1A5 Ga/Gb 161-170 *HFEVF 3D3 Ga/Gb 164-172 FEVFNF 1.1 3 1G1 Ga/Gb conformational 2B11 Ga/Gb 162-172 DFHFEVFNFVP 9 1.6 5D8 Ga/Gb 160-169 NNDFHFEVFN 4390 1 2D10 Ga/Gb conformational 3F9 Ga Ga only 1D4 Ga/Gb FEVFNFV 230 52 1G8 Ga/Gb 165-169 NDFHFEVFNF 24 141 6A12 Ga/Gb conformational 10C6 Ga/Gb 164-169 *HFEVF 55 378 *same epitope as 131-2G

EXAMPLE 5 Comparison of Binding to G Protein with Binding to Virions

FIG. 7 shows the results of an ELISA assay employing live virus and assessing the binding using a standard horseradish peroxidase assay. Viral preps from various sources were used to coat plates at 10⁵ PFU/well or higher concentration in carbonate buffer at pH 9.6 overnight at 4° C. Plates were blocked in 5% mik with PBST for an hour at room temperature. Serial dilutions of antibodies were added to wells in blocking buffer for one hour at room temperature. For detection, 1:2000 dilution of goat anti-human Fc gamma—HRP (Jackson Immuno.) was added in blocking buffer for one hour at room temperature. Plates were washed extensively in PBST. Turnover of the substrate TMB was measured at 450 nm. As shown in FIG. 7, 3D3 binds well to the live virus as do a number of other antibodies of the invention. The Synagis® antibody, which has substantially weaker affinity, shows little binding to live virus even at 10⁴ ng/ml antibody. FIG. 8 shows the correlation of the binding to recombinant protein as compared to binding to virus particles.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are graphs that demonstrate comparative ability of the antibodies of the invention to bind to strains A2 versus A5, using the assay described above. FIG. 9A shows that 3D3 and 3G12 bind well to strain A2 as compared to Synagis®. PAB is a commercial polyclonal goat antibody against all RSV proteins (Chemicon, catalog#AB1128).

FIG. 9B shows that these antibodies also bind strain A5; note the units on X-axis are different than in FIG. 9A. Similar experiments show that the antibodies of the invention bind to a wide variety of clinical isolates.

EXAMPLE 6 Neutralization Assays

The ability of selected antibodies of the invention to neutralize virus in vitro was obtained by a standard plaque assay. HEp2 cells were plated in 12-well plates at 2×10⁵ cells/well. The following day, serial dilutions of antibodies were generated in media. Approximately 200 PFU/well of RSV was added to the antibodies, in the presence of rabbit complement serum for one hour at room temperature. The antibody-virus mixture was then added to HEp2 cells at 200 uL/well for 2 hr at room temperature to allow for infection. Following this infection period, media were removed and media containing 1% methyl cellulose were added to all wells. Plates were incubated at 35° C. for 6 days, after which time, cells were fixed and stained for plaque number determination, as follows: Methyl cellulose is aspirated from the cell layers, and cells are fixed in 100% methanol for 30 min at room temperature. The plates are then washed 3× with 5% milk in PBS. Primary antibody is added at 1:500 dilution (Goat anti-RSV polyclonal antibody (Chemicon Cat#AB1128)) in PBS+5% Milk Protein for 1 hr. Plates are washed again 3× with 5% milk in PBS. Secondary antibody is added at 1:500 dilution in 5% milk protein in PBS (ImmunoPure Rabbit anti-goat antibody IgG (H+L) Peroxidase conjugated) (Thermo Scientific, Cat#31402)) for 1 hr. Plates are washed 3× with 1×PBS. Plaques are visualized by adding 1-Step Chloronaphthol substrate Pierce, Cat#34012), 200 μL per well for 10 min. Plates are rinsed with water and allowed to air dry. Plaques are counted in each well.

FIG. 10 shows the results in terms of absolute numbers of plaques per μg of human antibody and Synagis® antibody is included in the results. These data show that of the antibodies tested, 3D3 is most potent. 3G12 has an IC₅₀ of 15 ng/ml or an affinity of 100 pM according to this assay, whereas Synagis® commercial antibody has an IC₅₀ of 300 ng/ml corresponding to an affinity of 2 nM. It was further found that Synagis® and the anti-G antibodies of the invention were not synergistic under these conditions.

FIG. 11 shows neutralization of 3G12 antibody with respect to strain B, in comparison with Synagis®. The normalized data (% of control) are based on an absolute plaque number of 160-180 per experiment. The antibodies of the invention, with in vitro affinities from 1 pM up to 5 nM (Table 1), have EC₅₀ values between 10-100 ng/ml.

EXAMPLE 7

Anti-G Prophylaxis in Mice

The invention antibodies, Synagis®, and human IgG1 were tested for their ability to prevent RSV infection in mice. On day −1, prior to infection, mice in the control group were injected i.p. with medium and PBS. In test groups, injection was of 0.15, 1.5 and 15 mg/kg of antibodies hIgG1 (non-immune, isotype control), or 3G12 or 3D3 or Synagis®. This amounts to approximately 3 μg, 30 μg and 300 μg per mouse.

On day 0, the mice were inoculated with 1×10⁶ pfu RSV long-strain by intranasal administration. On days 0 and 5, the lungs, bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL) and serum were collected and body weight, lung weight, pfu in the lung lobe section, viral load (by qPCR), lung histology, total leukocytes, FACS, and IFNγ in BAL were all measured.

FIG. 12 shows the results based on viral lung load using the plaque assay from the foregoing list. The data in FIG. 12 show that 3G12 and 3D3 are equally effective as Synagis® in this assay. (A typical human dose for Synagis® is 15 mg/kg in humans.)

EXAMPLE 8 Therapeutic Efficacy of Antibodies to RSV-Ga/Gb

Antibodies to the conserved motif on RSV-G are shown to have therapeutic efficacy. Mice were infected intra-nasally at day 0 with 10⁶ pfu of RSV, then treated at day 3 with 3 mg/kg of antibody injected i.p. and assayed at days 5 and 7 for viral load in bronchial alveolar lavage. In this model, the infection is more readily cleared naturally than in humans. Nonetheless, the antibody treatment causes acceleration in viral clearance in a dose dependent fashion as compared to a control antibody that does not bind RSV (FIG. 13A). Each treatment group had 5 animals, and the results are statistically significant.

As described in WO 00/43040, antibodies to Substance P are beneficial in alleviating the lung inflammation caused by RSV, an animal model for the prolonged morbidity that is the clinically important feature of RSV infection. Up regulation of Substance P is dependent on active G protein (Haynes, L. M., et al., J. Virol. (2003) 77:9831-9844). Reduction in measures of lung inflammation following treatment with an antibody of the invention have also been observed, including reduction in inflammatory NK and total PMN cells (FIG. 13B), as well as reduction in cytokines, e.g., IFNγ (FIG. 13C).

In an additional test, on day 0, mice were inoculated with 10⁶ pfu of RSV A-type long strain by intranasal administration.

On day 3, various groups of 4-5 mice were treated as follows:

Group 1: control group which did not receive infection on day 0 and was treated with PBS.

Group 2: negative control which received RSV inoculation on day 0 and PBS treatment on day 3.

Group 3: RSV inoculation on day 0 and Synagis® antibody i.p. in saline at 1, 10, or 100 μg per mouse or 0.05, 0.5 or 5 mg/kg.

Group 4: RSV inoculated on day 0 and administered mAb 3D3 in the same protocol as Group 3.

Group 5: received RSV inoculation on day 0 and administered 3G12 in the same amounts as Groups 3 and 4.

Lungs and BAL fluid were collected on days 0, 3, 5, 7 and 10. In addition, body weight, lung weight, pfu in lung lobes, viral load by qPCR, lung histology, total leukocytes, FACS were measured as well as IFNγ in BAL. The results for qPCR in the groups administered 10 μg of mAb are shown in FIG. 14.

As shown, the viral titer in Synagis®-treated and untreated mice behaves similarly at this relatively low dose of antibody, whereas both 3D3 treated and 3G12 treated mice had greatly lower titers at the peak of infection on day 5. This experiment verifies that higher affinity in vitro correlates with higher potency in vivo.

FIG. 15 shows the dose response curve demonstrating that 3G12 and 3D3 were able to lower the RSV copy number as measured by qPCR on day 7 at lower concentrations than Synagis®. 3D3 was particularly potent, again consistent with having higher affinity in vitro.

Similarly, when qPCR viral counts are measured on day 10, although viral titers are naturally very low at this point due to natural clearance by the mouse immune system, 3D3 is approximately 100 times more potent than Synagis® at the various dose concentrations as shown in FIG. 16. This experiment highlights the utility of high affinity antibodies, which continue to be effective even when the antigen concentration drops. The human disease course is considerably more prolonged than in the mouse, providing a clear motivation for use of an antibody that continues to neutralize virus for an extended time period.

In still further experiments, mice were treated with murine anti-G mAb or murine anti-F mAb in groups of four, each experiment repeated three times. The mice were immunized on day 0 and treated with the antibodies on day 3, and various indications of efficacy were measured at days 3, 5 and 7.

As one index of effectiveness, inflammatory cells in the bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL) were measured in the three groups with the results shown in FIG. 17. BAL cells per lung are plotted on the Y-axis from 0 to 140×10³. The results show anti-F mAb lowered the BAL cells per lung at day 5 as compared to isotype control non-immune antibody, whereas anti-G mAb lowered the BAL cell count substantially more. By day 7, the infection had run its course.

FIGS. 18A and 18B show a comparison of effectiveness of anti-G mAb (murine 131-2G) compared with anti-G F(ab′)₂ obtained from this antibody by cleavage with pepsin and removal of the Fc fragments using immobilized Protein A. It has been shown that complement is important for the anti-viral effect of anti-G antibodies in vitro. This is confirmed in FIG. 18A where the anti-viral effect is measured as pfu/g lung tissue. Assays were conducted as in Example 6. The F(ab′)₂ fragment of an anti-G antibody, which lacks the Fc portion of IgG that is needed for complement mediated activity, is little better than control in lowering viral load, while anti-G mAb is very effective. However, when inflammation is used as a measure of results, as shown in FIG. 18B, the F(ab′)₂ fragment of anti-G mAb is fully as effective as the complete antibody. This experiment establishes that neutralization of the G protein is critical to reducing airway inflammation. Since the virus actively secretes a soluble form of the G protein, and high affinity binding is important for neutralization of soluble factors, the high affinity antibodies of the invention are expected to have particular utility for the anti-inflammatory effect.

FIGS. 19A, B and C show the effect of anti-G mAb on the production of IFNγ in BAL as a function of time of administration, with the cytokine serving as a marker for airway inflammation. Control non-immune antibody in all cases fails to reduce the increase in IFNγ production that accompanies airway inflammation. However, whether anti-G mAb is administered at day −1 (panel A), at day +3 (panel B) or even at day +5 (panel C), a dramatic decrease in the level of IFNγ at day 7 results. This experiment establishes utility of antibodies to the central conserved motif of the RSV G protein for treating inflammation well past the peak of viral load.

EXAMPLE 9 Specificity of Endogenous Antibodies in Infected Subjects

Serum samples from four elderly adults with severe RSV disease and with six elderly adults with mild RSV disease were tested for immunoreactivity with the synthetic peptide:

which represents the conserved region of RSV G protein from strain A2. The assay was performed using the ELISA protocol described in Example 5. The levels of antibodies immunoreactive with this peptide correlate with the severity of the disease wherein subjects with mild forms of the disease exhibited much higher titers than subjects with more severe manifestations of the infection (see FIG. 20). These results indicate that antibodies immunoreactive with this portion of the G protein are effective in ameliorating infection. 

1. An isolated monoclonal antibody (mAb) or immunoreactive fragment thereof that: (a) binds an epitope within residues 160-176 of the G protein of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) strain A2, (b) is minimally immunogenic when administered to human subjects, and (c) has an EC₅₀ of less than 500 ng per ml in a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) assay for neutralization.
 2. The mAb or fragment of claim 1 that has an affinity for G-protein of RSV A2 of at least 1 nM.
 3. The mAb or fragment of claim 1 that also binds to a corresponding epitope on the G protein of an RSV group B strain.
 4. The mAb of claim 1 that is in the form of a complete antibody.
 5. The mAb or fragment of claim 1 that is, or is an immunospecific fragment of, humanized 131-2G or is, or is an immunospecific fragment of, 1F12, 3G12, 1A5, 3D3, 1G1, 2B11, 5D8, 2D10, 3F9, 1D4, 1G8, 6A12 or 10C6.
 6. The mAb of claim 5 which is a complete antibody.
 7. A pharmaceutical composition that contains, as the sole active ingredient, an isolated monoclonal antibody or fragment of claim 1, along with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
 8. A pharmaceutical composition that contains, as sole active agents, the monoclonal antibody or fragment of claim 1 and an additional monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof that is immunoreactive with the G protein of an RSV group B strain, along with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
 9. A pharmaceutical composition that contains as sole active agents, the monoclonal antibody or fragment of claim 1 and an additional pharmaceutical agent other than an antibody immunoreactive with RSV, along with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
 10. The composition of claim 9 wherein said additional agent is an anti-RSV drug.
 11. A pharmaceutical composition that contains as sole active agents the monoclonal antibody or fragment of claim 1 and an additional monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof that is immunoreactive with the G protein of an RSV group B strain along with an additional compound other than an antibody immunoreactive with RSV, along with a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
 12. The composition of claim 11 wherein said additional agent is an anti-RSV drug.
 13. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 7 which further contains one or more monoclonal antibodies or fragments thereof immunoreactive with the F protein of RSV.
 14. The mAb of claim 1 that has a therapeutic effect in a human subject infected with RSV.
 15. The mAb or fragment of claim 1 that reduces airway inflammation in a human subject infected with RSV.
 16. One or more nucleic acid molecules that comprise first nucleotide sequence(s) that encode(s) the mAb or fragment of claim 1 or one or more nucleic acid molecule(s) that comprise(s) second nucleotide sequence(s) complementary to said first nucleotide sequence(s) over its (their) entire length.
 17. Recombinant host cells or immortalized cells that produce the mAb or fragment of claim
 1. 18. The recombinant host cells of claim 17 which are mammalian cells, microbial cells, insect cells or plant cells.
 19. A method to produce an mAb or immunoreactive fragment thereof, which method comprises culturing the cells of claim 17 and recovering said mAb or fragment.
 20. A transgenic non-human animal or transgenic plant that produces the mAb or fragment of claim
 1. 21. A method to treat RSV in a subject infected with RSV, which method comprises administering to a subject in need of such treatment and who is infected with RSV an effective amount of the mAb or fragment of claim
 1. 22. The method of claim 21 which results in reduced viral load.
 23. The method of claim 21 wherein the subject is human.
 24. A method to treat RSV in a subject infected with RSV, which method comprises administering to a subject in need of such treatment and who is infected with RSV an effective amount of the pharmaceutical composition of claim
 7. 25. The method of claim 24 which results in reduced viral load.
 26. The method of claim 24 wherein the subject is human.
 27. A method to enhance resistance to infection by RSV in a human subject, which method comprises administering to a human subject in need of such resistance an effective amount of the mAb or fragment of claim
 1. 28. A method to enhance resistance to infection by RSV in a human subject, which method comprises administering to a human subject in need of such resistance an effective amount of the pharmaceutical composition of claims
 7. 